


breaking routine

by friarlucas (authorisasauthordoes)



Series: brevity is the soul of wit (and my kryptonite) [9]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 06:30:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12205737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authorisasauthordoes/pseuds/friarlucas
Summary: Prompt: "What do you mean you're stuck?"





	breaking routine

[](http://rileymatthews.tumblr.com/)It’s not like Lucas to be late.

Not that they have any sort of set schedule for when he’s supposed to come in at night. Considering they’re still trying to be as discrete as possible as not to tip off Cory and Topanga (although Riley half-believes they have to already know), it would be silly for them to arrange a specific time for him to pop in the bay window to stay the night. But since the night he started showing up in the middle of junior year and every night since then, he’s shown up at around the same time every evening and Riley has grown accustomed to it. It’s now a pretty consistent part of her evening routine.

Change clothes. Brush teeth. Let Lucas in. Wash face. Inadvertently eat a late night snack. Brush teeth again. Floss. Talk until falling asleep. Repeat.

That evening she’s already washed her face and is well on her way to the late night snack, pawing through the refrigerator as she sends Lucas a text to check that he’s alright. She doesn’t mind him being late, she doesn’t even mind him not showing up–she’s wouldn’t be happy about it, but she’d live–but a heads-up to let her know what’s going on always makes her feel better.

One bite into a bowl of cold spaghetti later, she gets her response.

 ** _Lucas Friar_** ♥: Help.

A rush of panic immediately runs through her. She drops the bowl on the counter and picks up her phone to formulate a response, before her rational side starts to kick in.

If Lucas was in serious danger, he wouldn’t be texting her. He’d probably call her, and realistically he’d call the police before her. Whatever the situation is, it’s likely far less serious than her overactive imagination is leading her to believe from one text message.

Besides, the fact that Lucas is openly asking for help is an indicator in itself. Knowing him and his tendency to internalize, if it was a big deal he’d hold off on asking for help a lot longer than this.

Still, she swipes open her phone and dials his number, that irrational part of her brain praying she won’t be hearing the worst on the other end.

_“Where are you?”_

Despite the lack of an affectionate greeting, just hearing his voice is enough to assuage her concerns. She smiles instinctively, allowing herself to take another bite of her pasta. “I could ask you the same question. In fact, I will. Where are  _you_?”

 _“I’m here. Well, I’m sort of here. I’m like, one foot out the door.”_ Riley finds the way he’s whispering over the phone somewhat endearing.  _“Which again begs the question, where are you?”_

“One foot out the door?” She hesitates. “Is this a break-up call?”

_“Riley! You need to come help me.”_

“With what?” Riley notices herself raising her voice naturally out of comfortability, mentally forcing herself to keep it down to a murmur. “What are you talking about? Just come in, I’m in the kitchen.”

 _“I can’t.”_  He sighs.  _“I’m stuck.”_

“You’re stuck?” Riley furrows her brow in confusion, fork halfway to her mouth. “What do you mean you’re stuck?”

 _“I’m–,”_  he starts, before there’s a strange rustling on the other end. His next words sound far away, and she can hear it more clearly from the other side of her door in the hall than over the phone.

_“Damn it!”_

Riley deposits her half-empty bowl in the sink and immediately darts to her bedroom, peeking over her shoulder to confirm that her parents are still sleeping without disturbance. Not sure what to expect and with her phone still pressed to her ear, she cracks the door open to her and slips inside.

The sight in front of her causes her to close the door behind as swiftly as possible only so she can burst out laughing with as little risk of waking her family as possible.

Lucas is well on his way into her room as promised, only he’s situated half-in and half-out as his clothes are somehow caught on the open window frame. His phone is laying on the floor just out of his reach, still on the line with her.

He frowns at her laughter which only makes her giggle harder, lifting her hands up to her face in an attempt to stifle the sound.

“Don’t laugh,” he complains, still stretching in an attempt to grab his phone. “Help me!”

She ends the call and kneels down to grab his phone as well, tossing both of them on the bed behind her and crouching down in front of him. She tilts her head at his predicament, trying not to laugh at his request but unable to hold back a smile.

“What happened, Lucas?”

He rolls his eyes at her teasing tone, trying and failing to situate himself in a more upright position. He exhales harshly, narrowing his eyes. “Look, this is the first time this has ever happened. I don’t know what happened. I just want to be freed, please.”

Riley gazes at him affectionately. She has to admit, he’s awfully cute when he’s so annoyed. Being at the relatively same height currently, it’s easy when she leans forward to kiss him.

In spite of his indignation, Lucas is never one to refuse a kiss from Riley Matthews. He allows the gesture and steals another quick one from her before wincing slightly, making a face and wriggling against the bay window again.

“You know, that’s a lot less fun when I’m pinned like this.”

Riley lets out a laugh, relenting and holding her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, let’s see what we’ve got.”

“I don’t know what happened,” he repeats as she gets to her knees, leaning around him to investigate the situation. “The window just attacked me. It’s not like I did anything different.”

“Actually, that’s not entirely true. You were like twenty minutes late.”

“Oh, gee, sorry,” he mutters. It’s obvious the statement is supposed to be sarcastic, but Riley can still hear the hint of sincerity in the apology. Her boyfriend is nothing if not sincere. “But I don’t think that’s why your window decided to plan a botched decapitation.”

Her grin widens. He’s also nothing if not dramatic. “Karma,” she sings.

“Riley, please.”

“I’m on it,” she assures him, patting the back of his head haphazardly as she examines the cause of the problem.

From the looks of it, part of his t-shirt got nicked on the decorative latch on the window frame, and when he tried to push his way through his belt got caught as well. The most humorous part is that it seems like him trying to fix it himself caused the window to fall down and nearly close, explaining the reason he’s even more stuck than before.

“We’re lucky I could even reach my phone before it chopped me. I tried undoing it myself but I just wasn’t meant to bend that way.”

Riley hums in amusement, reaching under the window and starting to remove his t-shirt from the wood. “It wouldn’t have been so bad if your belt hadn’t got caught too. You know, this is what happens when you keep tucking your shirt halfway in but don’t follow through.”

“Ha ha. Very funny.”

“Actually, you know, I think this is a sign,” she continues, smirking. With the shirt freed, her fingers get to work on unlatching his belt. “I think the universe is telling you to stop wearing shirts when you come here.”

“It is not.”

“Uh-huh. I think the message is loud and clear that both of us would be better off if you just… didn’t wear one.”

She feels Lucas elbow whichever part of her is available, which happens to be her lower back. She erupts into giggles. “I’m not walking across Manhattan in the middle of the night without clothes on. In the winter.”

“Just saying,” she says, sticking her tongue out in concentration as she fights with the edge of his belt. “Wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been wearing anything.”

She feels the pressure release as she manages to successfully pull his belt from the latch, humming triumphantly. Rolling back on her heels, she crouches back in front of him.

“Should be good now. Climb through.”

Lucas nods and makes an effort to, but it’s obvious from his awkward positioning that it’s easier said than done. Riley rises to her knees again and takes his hands, helping pull him forward to the best of her ability.

He finally manages to break free, exhaling with relief and clambering to his knees as the window falls shut behind him. His balance is shaky though and before either of them can revel in the victory he’s stumbling forward off the window seat. Hands still linked together, Riley acts on instinct and yanks him in her direction as he tumbles onto the floor, landing half on top of her and eliciting a yelp from both of them.

Riley’s exclamation quickly devolves into giggles as Lucas adjusts, sitting up on his elbow and checking her for injuries. “Sorry. Are you okay?”

She hums an affirmation through her laughter, nodding. She wraps an arm around his neck and pulls him down into a kiss, pressing her forehead to his when they pull apart.

“Never better.”

Lucas shakes his head at her, but his fond smile gives him away. He gives her another kiss, stifling her giggles for an entirely different reason. It’s her turn to steal another quick peck when they break. “I won’t be late from now on.”

She smiles contently at him, taking the front of his t-shirt in her fingers and kneading it lightly. “And no shirt.”

“Yeah, still not happening. But nice try.” 


End file.
